Kazuyoshi Miura, set to turn 59 next month and is recognized globally as football's most senior pro, has agreed to a loan deal until June with Japanese third division side Fukushima United.
This move means Miura might feature in the Japanese professional league - encompassing the highest tiers of football in Japan - for the initial occasion in half a decade.
The ex-international forward, who started his career with Brazilian side Santos in 1986, did not find the net in just over an hour across seven appearances last season while on loan at fourth-tier club Atletico Suzuka.
"My passion for football remains undimmed, regardless of my age," he said as he gears up for a forty-first campaign as a pro footballer.
"I am truly thankful to be given this opportunity. I promise I will play with everything I have to help the team. Let's make history together!"
Referred to as 'King Kazu' in Japan, this will be Miura's fourth loan since 2022 from second division club Yokohama FC.
Miura, who has also featured in Australia, Italy, and Croatia, signed for the club in 2005 but has remained absent from the pitch for them since 2020.
He netted 55 goals in 89 games in an career for the national team that ended in 2000, two years after his surprising exclusion from the squad for Japan's first World Cup finals appearance.
Miura, who has talked of playing until he is 60, said he was ready to "embrace a fresh test" after being demoted last season to the country's lower regional divisions.
Fukushima United ended the season in tenth place in the twenty-club third division last season.
